Chess Knight Posted May 22, 2012 Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 Maybe I misread it, but it sounded like they tried to play a "people were huge on the story itself" card. The matches were well received, but I haven't seen any ciritcal acclaim for the actual story. Might be because I thought it was dogshit and didn't want to acknowledge it existed. Jericho's return's been really disappointing to me. I wasn't ever on his "he's the best in the world!!!" train, but I like the guy and can say I enjoyed most of his career a fair bit. This year...bleh. I sort of had hopes for him because he looked good in the Rumble, and then the Mania match with Punk I liked too. After that I just didn't want to see him anymore. Hated his promos, and his matches did nothing for me. Had some shitty arse ones with guys like Kofi. I know it's KOFI, but a Jack Swagger or a Primo has had passable/good matches with him. Didn't get behind the Street Fight with Punk at all. Felt like 45 minutes of dragging and a fire extinguisher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 I just can't buy Jericho as a serious character. I like him best when he's a comedy heel. Make me laugh because you'll never make me believe. That sort of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted May 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 Part of the problem is that he sometimes does things *so* heelish that it makes it hard to suspend disbelief. He doesn't seem like a genuinely bad guy. He seems like a guy playing a character of a bad guy. Doing promos about someone's dead alcoholic father and pouring alcohol on someone who is proud that he doesn't drink is such a ridiculously over the top bad guy thing to do that it's clownish. The high points of Jericho's feud with Michaels worked better because they did a better job of establishing Jericho's motives, and I like angles like the one with Rebecca where even though no one believes it to be so, it's plausible that it was an accident. The Rey feud worked better because it was a simpler angle and the in-ring was much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cross Face Chicken Wing Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 I thought the Jericho/Punk alcohol angle would have been better if Jericho did his schtick live instead on the screen. The on-screen stuff made Jericho seem like a creepy stalker instead of a hateable wrestling bad guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 I may be drawing connections that aren't there, but it occurred to me that the whole crazy AJ gimmick seems to be very similar to the stories of how Mickie James was acting when her and Cena broke off their alleged relationship. Maybe it was just because of Punk's "I kind of dig crazy chicks" line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 Mentioned this before but god damn are RF Video the worst producers of shoot interviewers ever. No follow up on anything, no clarification on anything, no attempt to get any in depth answers or stories, little to no knowledge of guys early careers, etc... Watching the new Tajiri shoot and they've run through the first 8-9 years of his career, IWA Japan, CMLL, BJW (no mention of him working NJPW), Puerto Rico & his entire ECW run within a little over 20 mins. Not like Tajiri does, well, any interviews in English EVER so such a wasted opportunity.... Not to mention they are unable to edit their stuff to make it seem at least somewhat clean looking (not as atrocious as at the beginning, but still). While interesting at points because Tajiri has a unique trajectory, and the point of view of a japanese wrestler is very interesting for cultural differences only, it looks like this shoot interview was done on the fly after a match, as Tajiri looks like he didn't even get to take a shower and get dressed. Really unprofessionnal all the way. Highspots are better in that the guy is more knowledgeable, but the production values are just as bad and they are worse in terms of dragging out at times (man, that Scotty Riggs interview...). Kayfabe Commentaries blows everyone in term of production, it's not perfect but at least looks professionnal most of the time. They do some really cheap stuff too though (those best/worst angle stuff with a WTF panel including Chyna, Danny Doring next to guys like JJ Dillon, Animal, Bill Eadie, Sunny, Maria Kanelis, Billy Gunn, Bill Apter). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovert Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 I may be drawing connections that aren't there, but it occurred to me that the whole crazy AJ gimmick seems to be very similar to the stories of how Mickie James was acting when her and Cena broke off their alleged relationship. Maybe it was just because of Punk's "I kind of dig crazy chicks" line. Took it as a Beth Phoenix deal. Read her Twitter the past nine months and you will see what I mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjh Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 Maybe Liz Cena is giving them some inspiration too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 I think the Jericho/Punk feud would've worked better if the motivation was reversed. Instead of Punk accused of drinking, Jericho getting upset because Punk refuses to share a drink. Jericho mentions in his book how you'd have to have a drink at a bar with the boys to fit in. Punk doesn't follow the crowd, boom, instant feud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjh Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 John Cena: Fascist without a cause There are catalogues of troubling propaganda photos of a young Benito Mussolini skiing topless and posing beside gymnasium equipment, muscles primed and gleaming. While the comparison is crude and outrageous if not crass and careless -- of course neither John Cena the person nor the wrestling character is in any way sympathetic to a genocidal totalitarian -- a pivotal aspect of the muscular culture that abetted 20th century state fascism was its separation of charismatic authority from morality through this very process of might proving might, unencumbered by right. Encouragingly, a large portion of the wrestling audience continues to reject this amoral cultural shift. So go ahead, as long as he remains an unrepentant amoral fascist, chant "Cena Sucks" with pride. WTF? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 Ah, fun stuff. I guess there's a heavy dose of tongue-in-cheek in this piece. Well, one could argue that the fascination for musclebound clean-shaven guys in crew cuts isn't that far remove from the fantaisies of Leni Riefenstahl.... Cena could be one of the greek statues-like athlete in Triumph of Will... (I know, it's silly) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
med2089 Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 Without posting spoilers, I have to ask, because I never watch Superstars so I don't know if this is normal - I was at Smackdown last night, and in between NXT and the Superstars match, the refs and some production crew members came out to change the ring aprons and ropes. They got the bottom and middle ropes changed, and then Tony Chimel announced that Superstars would be beginning in 30 seconds, with the top rope still the yellow NXT rope while the middle and bottom were blue. Cesaro and Kidd made their entrances, walking around refs who were still tightening the top rope, and then the ref called for the bell to start the match while the ring was still being worked on! Is this an normal occurrence to see on Superstars, or just a one night botch? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slasher Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 I think the Jericho/Punk feud would've worked better if the motivation was reversed. Instead of Punk accused of drinking, Jericho getting upset because Punk refuses to share a drink. Jericho mentions in his book how you'd have to have a drink at a bar with the boys to fit in. Punk doesn't follow the crowd, boom, instant feud. You don't really want any of your characters in a publicly traded company pushing a pro-alcohol agenda, even if as a heel. It's easier to do the sanctimonious anti-alcohol heel act. At least you can deny any support for alcohol if any politicians or media comes sniffing around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLIK Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 So what happened to the yearbook index sub forum? Kinda amusing it got put up with no explanation, Loss made a billion threads for the wrestlers, then it got deleted with no explanation which I didn't even notice until today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 I may be drawing connections that aren't there, but it occurred to me that the whole crazy AJ gimmick seems to be very similar to the stories of how Mickie James was acting when her and Cena broke off their alleged relationship. Maybe it was just because of Punk's "I kind of dig crazy chicks" line. Took it as a Beth Phoenix deal. Read her Twitter the past nine months and you will see what I mean. Can you summarize it so I don't have to read nine months of someone's Twitter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blehschmidt Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 Who owns the rights to the Global Wrestling Federation footage? Also, has anyone ever made a best of Global comp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 Who owns the rights to the Global Wrestling Federation footage? Also, has anyone ever made a best of Global comp? IVP has like 90 DVDs of footage of the GWF. I think it's just the television in chronological order. I've considered ordering some of it numerous times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted May 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 So what happened to the yearbook index sub forum? Kinda amusing it got put up with no explanation, Loss made a billion threads for the wrestlers, then it got deleted with no explanation which I didn't even notice until today There has to be a smarter, less labored way to make a cross reference. I'm re-thinking it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dooley Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 I may be drawing connections that aren't there, but it occurred to me that the whole crazy AJ gimmick seems to be very similar to the stories of how Mickie James was acting when her and Cena broke off their alleged relationship. Maybe it was just because of Punk's "I kind of dig crazy chicks" line. Took it as a Beth Phoenix deal. Read her Twitter the past nine months and you will see what I mean. Can you summarize it so I don't have to read nine months of someone's Twitter? For some reason, this gave me a laughing fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLIK Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 So what happened to the yearbook index sub forum? Kinda amusing it got put up with no explanation, Loss made a billion threads for the wrestlers, then it got deleted with no explanation which I didn't even notice until today There has to be a smarter, less labored way to make a cross reference. I'm re-thinking it. Hmmm, would something like the match finder on Cubsfan's site be hard to set up? http://www.thecubsfan.com/cmll/roster/matchfinder.php (great resource for finding matches btw if no one's ever used it, especially the option to easily see which matches are available on youtube) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjh Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 Shane Douglas is booking Matt Hardy for his next Extreme Reunion shows. Glad to see he's learnt his lesson. <_> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLIK Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 Can anyone give me the dates of all the previous CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan matches in WWE besides the most recent one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 Can anyone give me the dates of all the previous CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan matches in WWE besides the most recent one. Probably could be compiled from here: http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/results.htm John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 I mentioned before that Jack Korpela landed a gig in town as fill in late shift sports talk radio guy, and wow is his show educational. Just tonight I learned that HGH has no negative side effects from long term use, and that PEDs should be not only legal but encouraged in all sports because sports are all about entertaining people and being juiced up gives the people more of what they want to see. Also he got his opinions on said PEDs by listening to Chael Sonnen interviews, and according to Jack, Overeem (who's name he pronounced like "All-star Ov-reem") didn't really take anything. He only failed his test because his T/E ratio was slightly high. The only point he made that wasn't kitten-punchingly wrong was pointing out most of the drug testing done by UFC isn't accurate since the more reliable tests cost more than the commissions want to spend. Another fun moment was him relating a story about a "guy I worked with in WWE" who he didn't identify other than someone who used to be a wrestler but retired. This person was open in his steroid use while active and said he stopped when he retired from the ring. He said he did it because "all sports are entertainment", which seems to indicate there's quite the mindset in WWE that it's the fans rather than the company that expect everyone to be jacked up all the time. That's quite the impressive display of deflection on the company's part if true, considering even the guy who's only involvement was working the pre-PPV shill show still toes the line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 There most definitely are fans who expect people in WWE to look jacked up, or at least bigger than normal. I think it's a big reason why CM Punk hasn't been much of a ratings draw, and especially while paired with Daniel Bryan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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